The Esperanza

Launched in February 2002, the Esperanza is the largest vessel in the Greenpeace fleet. And Esperanza – Spanish for "hope" – is the first Greenpeace ship to be named by our supporters.

History

The ship is the fourth of 14 fire-fighting vessels ordered by the Russian government between 1983 and 1987 from Stocznia Polnocna construction yard in Gdansk, Poland. Heavy ice class and speed were one of the requirements.

The Esperanza was one of 14 similar vessels commissioned by the Russian government and used by the Russian Navy as a fire-fighting ship in Murmansk.

Lack of funds saw the ship laid up for some years in the late 80s,then sold a couple of times, finally working in Norway as a supply vessel.

At 72 metres length, and a top speed of 16 knots, the ship is ideal for fast and long range work.

The ship's ice class status means it can also work in polar regions.

It has taken many months to refit the ship in as environmentally friendly way as possible and these improvements include: the removal or safe containment of all asbestos; fitting a special fuel system to avoid spillage; newly fitted, more efficient, diesel electric propulsion; on board recycling of waste water, leaving only clean water pumped overboard; a waste based heating system; bilge water purifiers,15 times more effective than current legislation demands; TBT-free hull paint; ammonia based refrigeration and air-conditioning rather than climate changing and ozone depleting Freon gas - the first Dutch registered vessel to be so fitted; and an environmentally and economically efficient propulsion system to reduce CO2 emissions.

In addition, standard Greenpeace operating equipment has also been fitted. A new helicopter deck has been added, as well as special boat cranes to launch the inflatables.

The latest updates

As the wrecked Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia is towed to its home port of Genoa, Greenpeace Italy and the Italian environmental group Legambiente will monitor for pollution and spills. We're particularly concerned about impacts...

Ulrich von Eitzen, Operations Director of Greenpeace International from 2004 until 2013 and then a senior advisor to the Executive Director’s Office, finally lost his battle with cancer last Thursday, 12 June, 2014.
The way he...

Our brave activists have now delayed the giant oil rig Transocean Spitsbergen for over 80 hours, first by occupying the rig and now by occupying the drill site with the ship Esperanza. And as long as they stay there, Statoil can’t...

Desperate times call for desperate measures. That seems to be the thinking of Norway's Petroleum Ministry, which yesterday issued a highly irregular order in an attempt to bring an end to the Esperanza's peaceful protest in the Barents...